éclair

\e.klɛʁ\

/\e.klɛʁ\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“éclair” has 9 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #8,324. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#8,324
frequency rank, French
1,805
“É” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
11
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Lumière vive et soudaine causée par la foudre, qui brille entre les nuages et qui précède le bruit du tonnerre lors d'un orage.

Corpus desk

Index FR-eclair · éclair · French

éclair · rank #8,324 · 9 variants · 11 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,324
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 11 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,805
  • PHOTO-FINISH yo

Nearest frequency peer: yo (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « éclair »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « éclair » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

éclair vs éclat
67% similar
éclair vs éclate
67% similar
éclair vs éclats
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for éclair
PropertyValue
Headwordéclair
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\e.klɛʁ\
Letters6
Frequency rank#8,324
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs11
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « éclair »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).éclairse place ici:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « yo » (#8,323), « Wall » (#8,322), « africaines » (#8,326). Parmi 1,805 lemmes en « É », « éclair » est au #8,324. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around éclair (IPA \e.klɛʁ\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #8,324 among 1,805 “É” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for éclair, with forms such as "célair", "eclair", and "écalir". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 11 confusable-pair relationships, "éclat", "éclate", "éclats", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is éclair, spelled É-C-L-A-I-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Lumière vive et soudaine causée par la foudre, qui brille entre les nuages et qui précède le bruit du tonnerre lors d'un orage.
  2. 2
    Tout éclat de lumière étincelante et mobile qui paraît à la surface des objets.
  3. 3
    Éclat fugace.
  4. 4
    Manifestation brusque et rapide.
  5. 5
    Pâtisserie en longueur, faite d’une pâte à choux, glacée sur le dessus, et fourrée de crème pâtissière à l'intérieur.
  6. 6
    Synonyme de anomie pelure (espèce d’animaux).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how éclair appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Et les éclairs, de même, se produisent selon plusieurs modes ; en effet, c’est par le frottement et le choc des nuages que la configuration du feu propre à produire cet effet, lorsqu’elle s’en échappe, produit l’éclair.
  2. De temps en temps seulement un éclair livide illuminait les appartements sombres d’un reflet bleuâtre qui disparaissait aussitôt.

Synonyms

flash

This word in other languages

lightning(English)rayo(Español)Blitz(Deutsch)relâmpago(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • célair
  • eclair
  • écalir
  • écclair
  • éclairr
  • éclari
  • écliar
  • écllair
  • élcair

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of éclair - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

célair2eclair1écalir2écclair1éclairr1éclari2écliar2écllair1
Edit distance from "éclair"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "éclair"?
"éclair" is spelled É-C-L-A-I-R. The IPA pronunciation is \e.klɛʁ\.
What does "éclair" mean?
As a noun, "éclair" means: Lumière vive et soudaine causée par la foudre, qui brille entre les nuages et qui précède le bruit du tonnerre lors d'un orage.
What words are commonly confused with "éclair"?
"éclair" is commonly confused with "éclat", "éclate", "éclats". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "éclair"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "éclair" is \e.klɛʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "éclair" come from?
"éclair" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "éclair", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

aidera#8,327varier#8,319Anvers#8,330single#8,310

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

attribue9 variantsperles9 variantsenculé9 variantslaissait9 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list